Recently in Colonial Williamsburg, I was reminded that life for our children is very different from the life led by children in the Revolutionary War period in the United States. I found a great little book with George Washington’s instructions on manners – actually some of the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation he had copied as part of his schoolwork (The rules were already 150 years old at that point.). It’s interesting to read, but something becomes clear very quickly. Children were expected to behave like little ladies and gentleman.
Fast forward to today. Manners are taught – sometimes – sorta. One could make a lot of arguments for and against raising well mannered children, but here is my theory. Christian parents should spend a lot of time and effort on manners training because of this verse (and others like it) – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 NIV)
If your children can speak, you probably realize they consider you and anyone else close to your age “old”. I laugh now, because I will talk to friends from home and they will mention someone is “getting older”. In my memory, that person had to be at least in their 60’s or 70’s when I was a child. Inevitably, I will ask “What?! Isn’t she over 100 by now?” Usually, I realize the “old” person had actually been only in their 30’s or 40’s when I was little!
If you are trying to dedicate your children to God, they need to read the Bible. If you want your children to become mighty men and women of God, they need to have the scriptures imprinted on their hearts. If you want your children to make wise choices, they need to learn from God’s Word what those wise choices are. In short, if you are Christian parenting, you must find ways to teach your children the Bible and get them to love and value it in the process.
I’m not sure when it happened, but over the last several decades parenting has changed drastically. Not all of these changes are bad. Unfortunately though, some parenting “experts” are ignoring basic truths that also undermine Christian parenting. The church has changed too. Sin is rarely mentioned. Consequences are almost never discussed. The focus is only on celebrating God’s love for us.